I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cigarette lighter including a safety mechanism for locking an operation of an operating member for performing a lighting operation while the lighter is not used.
II. Description of the Prior Art
A certain type of conventional cigarette lighter has a safety mechanism e.g., a lock lever and a lock button, for locking an operation of an operating member for performing a lighting operation so as to prevent an unintentional operation of this operating member. The safety mechanism is effectively used to prevent an unintentional operation of the operating member in, e.g., a pocket, which is caused by an external force while the cigarette lighter is carried, and an unintentional operation of the operating member which is caused when the cigarette lighter is taken out of a pocket and the operating member catches part of clothes, and to prevent an infant from accidentally performing a lighting operation to cause an accident.
In the above-described prior art, however, in order to allow the safety device to lock an operation of the operating member and to allow the cigarette lighter to perform a normal lighting operation, the safety mechanism must be moved between a position to lock an operation of the operating member and a position to allow an operation of the operating member.
Therefore, a user is required to perform a special operation, and he or she tends to forget to move the safety device to the operation locking position. Even if the safety mechanism is moved to the position to lock an operation of the operating member, it is sometimes unintentionally moved to the position to allow an operation of the operating member.
As described above, in a conventional cigarette lighter, a safety mechanism does not satisfactorily function as a safety mechanism.